diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1909.xml b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1909.xml
index db4629443002..f9cea242c153 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1909.xml
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1909.xml
@@ -449,8 +449,9 @@
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
      <para>
-       <option>services.xserver.desktopManager.xterm</option> is now disabled by default.
-       It was not useful except for debugging purposes and was confusingly set as default in some circumstances.
+       <option>services.xserver.desktopManager.xterm</option> is now disabled by default if <literal>stateVersion</literal> is 19.09 or higher.
+       Previously the xterm desktopManager was enabled when xserver was enabled, but it isn't useful for all people so it didn't make sense to
+       have any desktopManager enabled default.
      </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/x11/desktop-managers/xterm.nix b/nixos/modules/services/x11/desktop-managers/xterm.nix
index 93987bd1dfc5..1408df312950 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/x11/desktop-managers/xterm.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/x11/desktop-managers/xterm.nix
@@ -13,8 +13,7 @@ in
 
     services.xserver.desktopManager.xterm.enable = mkOption {
       type = types.bool;
-      default = false;
-      defaultText = "config.services.xserver.enable";
+      default = (versionOlder config.system.stateVersion "19.09");
       description = "Enable a xterm terminal as a desktop manager.";
     };